Super Simple Print Then Cut Project - Divider For Scrap Vinyl Storage

Today I wanted to make a divider for my new vinyl scrap storage scrapbook.  Then I wanted to add a divider page, to separate my 651 vinyl from my htv vinyl.

This is a super simple print then cut project, using plain old cardstock, just to go through the steps of how to use the Print Then Cut feature in Cricut Design Space, and to create a divider Page for My new Scrap Vinyl Storage Album.

See more about my scrap vinyl storage album, here:

https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2019/02/organizing-my-vinyl-scraps.html

Quick Links:

• Free scalloped circle svgs 
• Free Laurel Wreath SVG
• Select All And Flatten - or it will cut out each letter and not just the outer shape.
• A Cheap & Easy Vinyl Scrap Storage Solution
• A Super Simple Draw Then Cut Tutorial - Making The tab for the divider page

First, The Shape - Uploading An SVG - 

http://dan99.blogspot.com/2015/04/freebie-scalloped-circles-cutting-files.html

It will download as a zip file - you will need to unzip the file, and locate the svg file.  Here's a quick overview:

How to See Thumbnails of SVG files:

https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2018/01/how-to-see-thumbnails-of-svg-files.html

Open Design Space, on the far left, at the bottom, choose "Upload"

Now at the top of the screen, you can change the size:

Print then Cut size is limited to 9.25 x 6.75.  So the largest we can cut a circle is 6.75. 

 I'm using an Air 2, so I can only use white paper for print then cut projects.  The Maker can read the registration marks on some other colors of paper, but on any machine prior to the Maker you are limited to white.  (There are some work arounds, but I've never needed to print on anything but white paper or clear acetate - clear acetate works fine in the Air 2 as well. )  You can change the color of our object at the top of the screen, by clicking on the box beside linetype.

Next, Add Text

On the far left, choose the text option, type your text.

Change your font to whatever you would like, I use Obelix Pro here.

Keep in mind that Design Space does not properly read system font kerning.  So if choose a script style font, it will space the letters all weird.  You can read more about that, and how to get around it, here: https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2018/01/using-fontlabpad-with-cricut-design.html

For this project, to keep it simple, I chose a simple font.

Then I decided it needed something, so I uploaded a laurel wreath svg - you can find that for free here: 

https://svgandme.com/laurel-wreath-svg/

Select All & Flatten

Here's the important step - select all, and flatten.

Flatten is for Print Then Cut Projects, so as soon as you select all and flatten, you will see in your layers panel to the right that it is now ONE image, and it changed itself to Print Then Cut.

Send To Printer

Now you can click "make it", and a screen will appear to send your item to the printer.

You can leave the bleed option alone.  Bleed is meant for images that have color around the cur area.  "Bleed" will bleed the color over the cut line, assuring that there is no white edge around your image.  All of our colors here are well inside the cut lines, and our image is flattened, so no bleed will be visible.  If you click make it, and on this screen all of your text is fuzzy - that is because you did not flatten your image.  Every letter that is "fuzzy" - shows bleed - will cut out individually.

Lastly, Cut - 

Place the paper that came out of your punter onto a mat, and insert it into the cricut.  The machine will scan the image, looking for that black box, then it will cut.

That's it!  One super simple print then cut decoration for on my divider page.  I placed it on top of a piece of scrapbook paper, and added a tab to make it easier to find the division in my album.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/fieldsofheathercrafts/posts/

https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2019/02/organizing-my-vinyl-scraps.html

https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2019/02/a-super-simple-draw-then-cut-tutorial.html

https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2018/11/where-to-find-free-cut-files-for-cricut.html

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Making a Print & Cut Sticker Book For Our Grandson - A Cricut Project

 

I'm so excited about this project, quite possibly because it's for one of my favorite people on earth. Our grandson.  :-)  I took photos from his visit to our farm this summer, converted them to coloring book pages, added additional pages by googling " farm coloring book pages" or specifically "goat coloring page", and then I made two pages of stickers using the print and cut feature in Cricuts Design space, and bound it all together into a book for him.

For the next one, I am going to do coloring pages of construction equipment, and photo stickers of him and his daddy and his Opa, to add to the pages...

Cliff Notes:

• Look for longer notes at the top of each section of how to's - I've divided this into sections: Making the Stickers, Making the Coloring Pages, & Binding.
• Avery sticker paper.  (I found a pack at our thrift store!)
• Flatten.  Always flatten with print and cut!  Or upload pngs - pngs upload as print and cut images.
• I used the BeFunky photo editor to make my coloring pages - but there are a lot of apps and options!
• I used a Fellowes Star 150 Binding Machine, because I own one.  But you could punch holes and put this in a report cover!

Making The Stickers:

Cliff Notes:

• Avery sticker paper (I found mine at our thrift store!)
• FLATTEN!  If your image is not a png, be sure you flatten it, so it will cut as one piece, and not cut our each letter in the word. If there are words, you will want a shape behind them to flatten them to! (details below)
• I turned the bleed off for this.  (Bleed is a very controversial thing on cricut lists!  But for this project, I definitely wanted the bleed OFF.)
• Where I found the images - they are listed below.  For this, search png instead of svg.  Svgs will work, but pngs are even easier.

The goat I used is an svg file that I have used on  some of my grandsons shirts.  Because it is an svg, it is very important that I select all the colors, and choose flatten.  The one on top (sleected) is not flattened.  See the long list of "pieces"?  The one on the bottom is already flattened.  Look at the top of my layers panel - see how it already has the print and cut icon beside it?  As soon as I chose flatten, that icon changed from the scissors to the printer.  

For this svg, if I select all and choose flatten, it will still cur around each letter in charged, because there is nothing connecting them.  It would also cut the tractor, lightening bolt, charged, and super, all separately.  To make this ONE sticker, I added a circle, changed it to white, moved the svg on top of the circle, and chose flatten. This flattened the entire image onto the circle, so that only the circle cut out.

For the tractor, I did not want to make it a circle or square sticker, I wanted the tractor shape.  But if I just chose flatten, it would still cut the wheels seperate - see how they are not connected, there is empty space between them and the tractor body.  So I added two circles, made them large enough to connect the body, placed them over the tires, selected all, and chose weld.  (see yellow image)  That gave me a tractor shape to flatten my tractor image to.

I drug the yellow image over top of my green tractor, and then chose "send to back".  I had originally made this image yellow just so it could be seen for the screen shot, but since our big tractor like this is a John Deere, I ended up liking the yellow, and leaving it.  Once the yellow shape was under the green tractor, I selected both and once again chose flatten - making it one image that will cut around the outside only.

The other images I used were pngs.  PNG's uploaded as print and cut images need nothing done to them for print and cut.  No need to flatten, or anything, they just are print and cut when uploaded.  

Print then cut can only be 6.75 x 9.25.  It doesn't matter what size your sticker paper is, nor what size your mat is - that is the largest cricut will allow.  [Note - in 2023, we have larger print than cut options available!]

So created a rectangle (insert a square shape, click on the lock to "unlock" the sizing) and sized it 6.75 x 9.25. I changed my rectangle to yellow, so I could clearly see the white backgrounds on my stickers, and be sure they did not overlap, then I filled the space.  Once the space was filled, I deleted the rectangle, chose select all, and chose attach.  For cut files, when you select attach they will all turn one color.  This will not happen with print then cut.  Select all, attach, and when you click make it, they will stay in the order you placed them.

The first time I sent this to cut, I received the error that the registration marks could not be read.  I turned on the overhead light, tried again, and it cut just fine.  Other times I have had to turn the light OFF to get it to cut - so I don't really know the answer, but if you get that error, try playing with the lighting in your room.

Making the Coloring Pages:

Cliff Notes:

• Look for a coloring page app.  I think there is one on iphones called "colorscapes" that works well?  I looked at this one for android, but did not actually use it myself.
• or any photo editing software that does sketches.  
• There are detailed instructions here, for a free online graphics program, to do this.  (It exceeded my attention span - but from what I can tell, this is a solid way to do this)
• I used the premium version of the BeFunky App - because I am already using it for a childrens book I am illustrating with my own photos.  (I say "app" - but I actually used the web version on my desktop for these.  I also have the app on my phone) It's $6.99 a month to use the premium version.  I don't know if you can do this with the free version, because once you pay, you can't tell what is free and what is not free!

The settings I used were Artsy, Digital Art, Ink Wash.

You can then move the slider to the right for less color (all black and white) or to the left a bit to leave some color. I varied this - on some photos I left more color than others.

For this book, I put a photo on one side, and then googled a coloring book page for the opposite page.  I'm sure my 2 year old grandson will color both sides (or neither side.. he does tend to share my attention span.  As in, neither of us really has one....  ) but I wanted to mix it up and make sure it doesn't feel too much like a regular book, which he should NOT color in.

I put all of this together in a Publisher document.  Microsoft publisher is my go to program for all projects like this, but you could do it in Word, or in Google documents

https://docs.google.com/document

The Binding

Cliff Notes: 

• You could just staple this together.  Or punch holes and tie it together. Or put in a binder, or report cover.
• I have a Fellowes Star 150 Binding Machine,  I love it.  Very much.

Most people will not have thier own binding machine, and it would be cheap and easy to simply punch holes and put this in a report cover.  

I was a genealogist long before I got a cricut, and I put together so many genealogy reports, and later, family cookbooks, that this machine was a really smart buy for me.  I probably spent $100 upfront, for the machine, and huge boxes of binding and covers and backings.  It's been well worth every penny - especially when making the family cookbooks last year!  

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Print Then Cut EOS Easter Cards

The Cliff Notes:

• Design is from : http://caluyadesign.com/free-bunny-faces-svg.html
• Hole for EOS is 1.46
• Font is A Little Sunshine

First, download the free files from http://caluyadesign.com/free-bunny-faces-svg.html

Normally you want the svg files, but it's faster to use the PNG files for this project, since it is print then cut.

I used the Egg file.  Tip - to see thumbnails of your svg files, use this extension.

Create a 5.58x7 rectangle in Design space.

Upload the Bunny PNG File

Add your text.  Change your text to Print.

Select all, choose Center horizontally

If you have already added the circle (1.46 in diameter) hide it.
Select all, Flatten.

Add a 1.46 inch in diameter circle, right over the nose.

(You can set the size in the toolbar across the top, beside "flip".  Just type the size into the box)

Select All, Attach.  (That will keep the circle in the right spot when it cuts)

Choose Make it, send to your printer. It will print a black box around your design.  It needs to do that, that is how cricut will know where to cut.

Place on the blue mat (or a well used green mat)

Cut.  Your machine will scan the image, then begin cutting.

Remove from the mat, unscrew the EOS container, place the back through the hole, attach the front.

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Where To Find Loads Of Free Easter SVGS
https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2019/02/free-svgs-for-easter-projects.html

Stocking Stuffer Reindeer EOS:

 http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2017/12/stocking-stuffer-eos-cards.html

Print Then Cut with Cricut

Print & Cut Little Blue Truck Designs, made with cricut, on wal-mart shirts using Avery Transfer Paper

Making Printable Acetate Christmas Ornaments - Cricut

Floating Christmas Ornaments
I love these so much!  They are photos printed on acetate  (Transparency sheets) that "float" in the center of the ornaments.

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Affiliate Disclaimer -  As an affiliate for Amazon, and a variety of other sites, there may be affiliate links in this post.  If you click on those links and then make a purchase, I may possibly receive a small commission.  This in no way effects the price you pay.

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